It Hurts Me To
by MaeAlyse
Summary: Aang and Mai have a Late Night talk. Supposed to be kataang and maiko, but you can take it as Zutara. Weird i know. And This isn't supposed to be romantic! It's friendship.


Ok this is my first oneshot. No flames please.I had another idea, had to write it down. I might make a sequal, with Zuko and Katara. Later on in Life. But thats if I feel like it. Read and Reveiw!!

Or just read... I don't mind. ;)

Aang woke up from his sleep from yet, another bad dream. They had been happening for days…ever since Katara and Zuko had announced their attraction to each other. Frankly, he didn't understand it. After all that they had been through, all the bad Zuko had done to them. She was willing to go to him with ease. He sighed, heaved himself up off of Appa, and headed out towards the stream he had stumbled upon earlier. As he drifted into his thoughts, the outside world became more and more distant. It wasn't long before he wasn't at all aware of his surroundings, which would explain why he accidentally stepped on Mai's foot.

Mai had joined their group a little more than a week ago, claiming that she had been fed up with the war, and fed up with Azula. And who could blame her? Zuko convinced the rest of the group to trust her, and they welcomed her in with open arms. Not that they really knew much about her…she barely talked, and sat as far away as possible. Aang didn't think he had ever seen a real smile on the girls face.

"Oops. Sorry."

"It's ok." She mumbled and rubbed the part of the hand he had stepped on.

"What are you doing out here" he asked softly. For some reason, whenever he was around her, he felt the need to talk softly.

"Just thinking."

"You mind if I think with you?"

Mai looked over in surprise, though her face didn't show it. Aang had already sat down, assuming her silence was a yes. And he didn't look like he was looking for conversation. Which she was glad for, she didn't some out here to talk. They sat there for about 20 minutes, doing nothing but thinking. After awhile, she heard Aang speak.

"It hurts me to you know."

"What?" This kid had the weirdest way of starting conversation.

"Seeing them together. It hurts me to." Aang looked at her, his eyes clearly showing pain. "I was this close to telling Katara my feelings about her, but I'm glad I didn't. It would ruin our friendship. And she seems happy with Zuko. That's all I want her to be. Happy."

Mai looked at the creek, not able to hold his gaze, " You really care about her then, if your willing to just let her run off with some other guy."

"Yeah. I really do."

It was silent for another moment, Mai gathered her voice and spoke, " I didn't just join this group because I was fed up with the war, and I didn't just join because I was fed up with Azula. I joined because I love him. And anywhere he was willing to go, whatever path he chose, I promised myself that I would go with him. That's why I'm here." She paused, waiting for the taunting that Azula or Ty Lee would have gave her if she talked like this. But it didn't come, so she continued, "But…but I don't think I can do that anymore."

"I don't think you should do that."

She looked over at Aang, he was staring at the creek, watching it flow.

"You can't just give up. I know for Katara, that this might just be a crush, or this might be real. I don't know for sure. But I do know, that someday, somehow she's going to get hurt. Whether he accidentally says something he shouldn't have or he hurts her on purpose, she will get hurt. And who better to cry on then your best friend. Right now, your Zuko's best friend. You can't just back out now."

Mai thought about it, and she came to the conclusion that he was right. She couldn't just leave.

"You pretty smart for a 12 year old."

"Thirteen."

"Oh.." Mai blushed and looked away, "Sorry, I didn't know."

Aang chuckled, " Naw it's ok. I didn't expect you to. Everyone still thinks I'm 12. Even Katara. The monks used to say age didn't matter. It's the spirit that counts."

Mai watched his face darken a little as he spoke of the monks, "Sorry about your loss."

"No, no. Don't apologize. It's not your fault. You weren't even alive."

"Could you tell me more about them?"

Aang brightened immediately, "Sure!"

He spent his time telling story's of his past. The things he had encountered, how stuffy some of the monks could be, his old friends. Mai spent her time listening, just giving him someone to talk to. He didn't seem to mind. He had just finished telling one of his stories, that was funny enough to actually make her smile.

"Should we start heading back? They might be getting worried about us." Aang got up and offered her hand out to her, she looked at it for a second, but greatly accepted it. They walked back to camp together, and Aang started to tell another story about how he and some of his friends at the temple played a prank on one of the stuffiest monks at the temple. They burst out into the clearing just as Aang was telling the funniest part, which made Mai break out into a giggle. To her, it felt like she was hysterically laughing, but to others, it just looked like a small outburst. Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Zuko were surprised anyway. This was the most amount of emotion she had shown wall week.

"You can laugh!" Sokka practically shouted, he didn't mean to offend her, but come on, this was _Mai_ we're talking about. No emotion Mai.

The smile on her face immediately disappeared, and Aang looked sort of sad that it was gone.

"I'm going back to bed." She mumbled, only loud enough so that Aang could hear. He nodded, and sat down next to Toph.

"What was that about?" Zuko asked, if you listened hard enough, he sounded mad, maybe a little accusing. But of course, no one was listening hard enough.

"What was what about?" Aang asked innocently, picking up an apple and polishing it on his shirt before he took a bite of it.

"She laughed." He stated simply.

"Well…I was telling her a story about the monks…it was pretty funny. Hard not to laugh." He took another bite of the apple.

"Where were you guys?" Sokka asked, his mouth stuffed full of food.

"By the creek. I woke up cause of a bad dream, and decided a walk would calm me down. The creek was where my feet happened to lead me, and she was already there. We just talked for a little, that's all."

"A bad dream? Want to tell me about it?" Katara had a concerned look on her face, "You always tell me when you have a bad dream."

"Yeah well…it was in the middle of the night, and you seemed…" he glanced towards Zuko, "Occupied."

"Oh…" Katara looked at the ground. Last night she had snuck into Zuko's tent, to keep warm. Strangely, it didn't warm her up at all.

"I think I'm going to follow Mai's lead and go back to bed." He got up, and made his way back over to Appa. For some reason, a certain phrase was stuck in his head.

_It Hurts Me to…_


End file.
